Happy birthday, Cupcake. You're ONE!

Cupcake,

I've thought long and hard about this letter, mainly because it's the last "first" letter I'll probably ever right. I want it to be perfect and special in all the ways you are.

I can't begin to tell you what a blessing you've been in my life. From the second they put you on my tummy straight from the womb and I thought, "Oh my, what a tiny mouth she has!" to now, exactly one year later, I've been filled with love and happiness. I'm sure by the time you're reading this, you know you weren't exactly planned, but I couldn't imagine our family being complete without you.

You slept through the night on your three month birthday and have ever since. You've learned to smile and say dada, mama, baba, bite bite, hi, bye bye, whoa, baby, no no, uh oh, and probably a few more I haven't picked up on yet. You went to your first Bible class when you were six months old. You learned to sit up around then, too. By 9 months, you crawled and by 10 you were pulling up and cruising. You still haven't walked, but I know it's coming very soon!

Your smile has brought me endless joy. You've been such an easy baby and it's hard to capture with words the joy you seem to find in life. Your little adult chuckle always makes me laugh. And I love how you call for me over the monitor when you're awake. Your little crooked two-tooth smile never fails to brighten my day.

The best part of all has been going to your room and picking you up, all warm and soft from sleep and hearing you say "Ooooh" as you give me a kiss and then lay your head on my shoulder, patting me with your little chubby hand. One day, when your too big for me to pick up, I want those memories to be with me. These baby days are so short and there was once a day not long ago I wished them away. If only they would sleep through the night...If only they were potty trained...if only...

If only I could keep you little just a little longer.

God gave me my "angel baby" so that I would always look back on these days with joy. I know the day will come you will walk, talk in sentences, eat with a spoon, potty train, dress yourself, and develop your own opinion. I will savor those days, too, just as I have with your brother and sister. There's something bittersweet about saying goodbye to your last baby, but I'm also saying hello to my last toddler, which is still just as special.

Someday, I pray, I will watch you become a Christian. I will watch you make wise choices and make not only me, but yourself and God proud. I will watch you grow with the joy only a mother can have towards her child.

Cupcake, happy birthday. I love you so much.

Tomorrow, as we celebrate, I hope you know you will always be my...

I've been tagged by Jennifer!

I was tagged by Jennifer over at Me, My Muse and I. Since I haven't had much to blog about lately, I thought this would give me something to do!

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random and/or revealing things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your post entry is up on your site.
Six Random/Revealing Things About Myself:

1) I wear a size 5.5 shoe. I HATE my small feet!

2) I have an uncontrollable, inexplicable fear of puking. I'd rather be extremely nauseous for a week than puke once and feel better.

3) The greatest experience in life is having children. Marriage is a close second. Both teach you every possible combination of patience and love.

4) I hated lit classes in college despite the fact that I'm a writer!

5) I went to college for 2.5 years and dropped out. I wanted to be a wife and mother more than I wanted a fancy degree.

6) I love action movies more than girly movies. Hubby got lucky on that one!

Kinda boring, huh? Since I don't get many readers these days, consider yourself tagged if you read this and haven't already done it! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Balloons!

So last weekend my two girls went to a birthday party and came home with a balloon. Punky and Chicken fought constantly over the thing and continued to make that squeaky, annoying sound. While I was gone running errands, Hubby decided he had enough.

"C'mon kids. Let's go in the kitchen and pop it. It'll make a loud noise!" He lines Punky, Chicken and Cupcake up like little soliders.

1, 2, 3!

He pops the balloon.

All the kids fell into stunned silence with slack jaws and rounded eyes.

After a few moments, Cupcake (the 11 month old) said, "Whoa!"

Food for thought...

"Mommy, are we going to heaven?" Punky, my three year old asks.

"Yes, as long as we do what God says, we will!" I reply, loving that she was thinking on such things.

"Can we drive our car?"

"Uhhhh...."

Happy belated birthday, Old Man.

Dear Hubby,

I just realized I was so busy on your birthday I never wrote you the traditional letter. So here I am, 5 days later, doing it anyway.

Last year, I warned you of your oldness coming this year, at the big 3.0. But surprisingly, you're not in depends, you still have all your teeth and while you do snore, at least you can get yourself out of the bed without the aide of walker. I'm proud of you! ;oD

In all seriousness, I think our little weekend getaway to Mentone, Alabama was amazing. I wish we could have stayed there a week. Hiked more. Eaten more. Because for about 1.75 days, we had no responsibility and it kinda felt like we were dating again. I watched you laugh...I saw the real smile where I could see your dimple. I love that smile.

Since having our kids, we have a hard time connecting due to our chaotic lives but this weekend, we connected. And I'm still trying to digest the fact we didn't fight once!!! ;oD

I love you, Bryan. Every day, while it probably doesn't seem like it, I thank God for you and how my life has turned out. I thank God for the wonderful father you are to our children, the provider you are to us, and husband you are to me. Life has a knack for getting in the way and I don't tell you those things enough.

I love you, all of you. Thank you for picking me.

Stephanie

Why I need a vacation

One day, I'll have some time to breath

So...about a week and a half ago I was in the garage getting ready for a yard sale while the kids were playing in the driveway. I was focused on my task and not paying much attention to them other than to make sure they hadn't wondered off.

Then, I heard Punky's telltale scream of horror and pain. I look and her hand is dripping blood. I run over to her, prepared to bandage up whatever it is and tell her to shake it off and stop overreacting (I'm convinced she has a fear of blood...something that baffles me since no one but my father in law in our family possesses this fear. I have to calm her down a lot about it.

However, what I saw was nothing that would be bandaged up and shaken off. She definitely needed stitches. Off we went to the pediatric ER and she had two stitches (which she felt going in...stupid doc didn't even bother to give her a shot and opted instead for numbing "gel" that apparently numbs about as well as a piece of ice.

So we've been dealing with the bandage changing and such since then. Yesterday, she got her stitches out and is band-aid free now although she's still favoring it quite a bit. What an ordeal.

This morning I rolled out of bed at 4:15 to have Cupcake at the hospital for surgery on a clogged tear duct. Not a big deal and she's ok now (peacefully sleeping as a matter of fact) but it's hard to see your baby being carried away by a complete stranger with a hair net and atrociously colored scrubs. Everyone was so very nice and I held it together (miraculously). When I went to see her in recovery, she had just woken up.

I guess I expected to see her sitting up and playing. Instead she was laying on her back, looking around with her big blue eyes and had her thumb in her mouth. She was obviously feeling insecure about her surroundings. When she saw me, her eyes lit up, she smiled a big smile and reached for me. It was the sweetest moment to know that she recognized me and loved me that much.

Of course, she worked her charm on all the doctors and nurses and everyone was having a duck over her. One man even shook his head and said, "I can't believe you're old enough to have a baby, much less three!" I laughed and told him thank you for saying that, it always makes this almost 29 year old feel super special! With everything going on in this house right now, I certainly don't feel young!

Now? I'm exhausted. I went to the gym for the first time last night in two weeks. My feet hurt. My back hurts. I'm fat. I think I have another ear infection. I need a babysitter.

I just need a nap and a vacation. Oh, and maybe some liposuction.